Congo is not a very friendly place for travelers. If you decide to visit, you would need to have an escort of armed rangers as you might be kidnaped. But it isn't the only peril on your way to enjoying the wonders of Virunga National park. You would need to take chances with ebola. Luckily for me, none of the above happened.
Virunga Park is nature's marvel. Nyiragongo volcano breathtaking but I saw something, I wish I didn't. The worst kind of racism. The racism that lives in all of us, which we are not even aware of.
Little kids were ecstatically shouting, "Mzungu, mzungu, mzungu". As a curious traveler, I asked the guide about what does that mean. He said, "White men." A lady from Western Europe within my group politely started saying, "We are white monkeys to them." And then she smiled. My jaw dropped down. She couldn't even comprehend the gravity of her statement. She thought that she showed compassion. Instead, she showed the worst kind of racism that is deeply rooted in the culture she was coming from.
George Floyd's death was another sad incident in the time of COVID. The only difference to similar cases is that COVID magnified racial differences. If you are of an African origin in America, your chances of dying of COVID are higher than for people of other backgrounds. The same goes for unemployment, and the list goes on. Going to jail, be stopped by the police, etc. Murder of Georges Floyd put oil on this cultural fire. And it is not only that America is burning, but also the rest of the world.
One hundred fifty-five years since the death of Abraham Lincoln, America is not living by his ideals he fought and died for. For me, he is one of the greatest statesmen in modern history. While he fought against slavery, his dear Americans didn't fight against racism.
It is not enough to post something on social media and make big statements. I see many brands doing it. What is good is that brands are taking a cultural stand. This adds another dimension to what role brands play in society. It will also change the game of branding. Kudos to Nike! Still, we need to fight something more serious. A cultural bias that many allow it to live within themselves without even knowing it.
In the country where I was born, gypsies face the same destiny as the black community in America. If you use the word "gypsy," you are characterizing someone in a bad way. Unfortunately, this became a part of the culture. Once it's a part of the culture, it lingers in collective (sub)conscious. Each time we use the word "gypsy," we reinforce this bias. And it doesn't matter if we don't mean anything bad to this specific community.
Before my mum retired, she worked as a nursery principal. On many occasions, gypsy parents would come and beg her to accept their kid, as no other nursery would take them. I'm proud of my mom that each time she said yes. She didn't allow the "gypsy" bias to operate in her head. For all other people, it was easier to confirm the cultural bias. They were thinking that they are doing the right thing by not accepting a gypsy kid. It is easier to say that gypsies don't finish schools and don't want to have proper jobs, but no one is asking why. The biggest issue lies in one simple and heavy word "gypsy" that condemns the whole community without giving them a chance. The same goes for the phrase nigger or negro in America.
I'm not going to hate the lady because she said: "We are white monkey to them". She echoed the accepted belief of the culture she was part of without even thinking. And that is the biggest problem. We all need to start thinking.
Simply as it sounds, to reset the culture, we need to stop using the word negro, nigger, or gypsy in any form or manner. And this should apply to all people, black, brown, white, or whatever the color. Fight against the usage of the word. This is something that everyone can do, and it doesn't require any particular effort. After a while, the heaviness of the word will leave the collective subconscious and free us from the bias.
Where to start?
The first thing that you can do is to stop using emojis with a different color than default. It's not about you being black or white. It's about being human first.
The last global pandemic, the Spanish flu, gave women the right to work, and eventually vote. I wonder what this pandemic will do. If it eradicates racism around the world, nothing will make me happier.